


Safe

by Bajillian



Series: Tumblr Requests [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Brotherly Bonding, Child Monkey D. Luffy, Child Portgas D. Ace, Child Sabo (One Piece), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25985029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bajillian/pseuds/Bajillian
Summary: He had a feeling that he was walking along with Ace and Sabo. He had to have been. Why else would he have gone out at night all by himself without a good reason?
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Series: Tumblr Requests [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886212
Comments: 10
Kudos: 74





	Safe

**Author's Note:**

> I was requested to write some young ASL Brothers! Hope you enjoy!

Young Luffy was in the dark forest. Lost. Alone. _Scared._ He was having trouble remembering the events prior, but he had a feeling that he was walking along with Ace and Sabo. He had to have been. Why else would he have gone out at night all by himself without a good reason? Especially on a night that seemed so… foggy. Weirdly foggy, like only the edges of his vision were affected.

Still, he walked forward, eyes darting around in case a pair of other eyes would decide to make an appearance. He adjusted his hat, trying to broaden his vision a bit, and thought of Shanks. What would Shanks do if he was here? Probably be brave and keep walking, and Luffy wanted to be just like Shanks. The problem was that he wasn’t sure which direction he was heading, or why. He’d only hoped he was getting closer to the hideout. He squinted, as if it’d focus his vision more, trying to see anything else besides the silhouettes of tree trunks and the never-ending darkness.

He looked up. What little sky wasn’t hidden behind the thick collection of leaves seemed to be cloudy as well. No stars, no moon to guide him. Just the unwelcoming pitch darkness. Cautiously, he turned his head, and eventually his body. It wasn’t the smartest move to walk backwards, what with being all by himself in an unknown location for an unknown reason, but his curiosity got the best of him.

His eyes widened when he realized he could see even _less_ looking behind him than he could looking forward. In fact, it was like a black hole. The more he walked, the more the trees faded into nothingness, as if they had never existed in the first place. It sent a shiver down his spine. Unlike an actual black hole, it didn’t seem to be pulling anything into it by force, only gradually as Luffy walked. He was grateful that he was at least safe in that aspect.

He started to calm down a bit, but kept his guard up. Just because nothing had jumped out at him yet, it didn’t mean he was completely safe. That’s when he heard a familiar voice calling for him from the darkness.

“Luffy!”

“Ace??” Luffy called back, but his voice didn’t seem to project as far as he wanted. He tried to yell louder, but it didn’t seem to work. When he felt something grab his arm, he screamed and sat up abruptly.

He was… in the hideout. Ace and Sabo were staring at him, the former looking more annoyed than anything.

“Took ya long enough to wake up!” Ace said, crossing his arms. “You were kickin’ me in your sleep! You’re lucky Sabo stopped me, ‘cause I was gonna kick you right back-- _would ya stop cryin’, you little baby??”_

Tears streamed down Luffy’s face, partly from relief, as he reached over to wrap his arms around both of his brothers. “I… I-I was so scared,” he sobbed out. “You were… you were in th-the darkness, Ace, I couldn’t see you! I thought you were…” A shaky breath. “I thought you were done for!”

Ace grumbled. “Yeah, well, it was just a nightmare, stupid!” he said. He tried to pry Luffy’s arm off of him, but no amount of force would make it budge. Only stretch. “Now let go a’me!”

“Ace, he’s scared,” Sabo said, much gentler and calmer than the other two. “You’re not gonna get anywhere if you’re yelling at him.”

Ace sighed and stopped trying to push Luffy away. He rolled his eyes, but carefully wrapped an arm around Luffy to return the hug. “Sorry,” he mumbled, averting his gaze elsewhere. His voice was softer now. “M’safe, alright? You can stop crying. It’s okay.”

That was enough to calm Luffy down, and his sobs eventually stopped. He sniffled as he gave a nod.

“Nothing can get us! We’re strong, remember?” Sabo said, and gave Luffy a pat on the back. “And we’ll always be there for each other, no matter what!”

“Yeah, no one’s gonna get to me before I can kick their ass,” Ace said. “Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing.”

Luffy nodded again. “Thanks, you guys…” He rubbed his eyes and yawned. All that crying had drained him.

“C’mon, let’s get back to sleep,” Sabo said as he rested back down. Ace followed. “We’ve got lots of training in the morning, so we gotta get as much energy as we can!”

Luffy smiled and laid down to join them. He was surprised when it was Ace who wrapped his arm back around Luffy, pulling him into a secure hug. Sabo did the same.

“Don’t forget, you’ve got your big brothers to protect you.” Ace rested his chin on top of Luffy’s head. “You’ll be safe with us. Now get some sleep.”

Luffy already felt better. He snuggled against the two before closing his eyes. “Goodnight!”

“Night,” Ace and Sabo said in unison.

As soon as Luffy fell asleep, he was right back to where he left off in his nightmare. Ace was still calling him, but he soon appeared, running right towards Luffy. Sabo was following close behind him.

“There you are!” Ace said. “We’ve been lookin’ all over for you. Don’t go walkin’ off on us again, okay?” He draped an arm over Luffy’s shoulders, and the darkness suddenly vanished.

Rays of sunlight spilled through the leaves, and the smaller life that lived in the trees and flora began making their presence known. The black hole was now a clear path to the hideout, which the two brothers led him down. Luffy smiled, both in the dream and in reality. Ace was right…

With his brothers, he was safe.


End file.
